Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer is an electronic instrument used by various organizations to verify the performance of an optical fiber. When a fiber cabling infrastructure is installed by any organization, it is essential to check its performance to protect their business critical applications. By carrying out this certification using OTDR it is guaranteed that the fiber installation meets the design specifications for current and future applications.

The quality and reliability of an OTDR equipment is based upon its accuracy and precision level, range and speed of measurement and its ability to perform under extremes of environmental conditions. OTDR is also used for maintaining the performance of fiber infrastructure. These days there are various OTDR tools available via which network engineers can themselves carry out verification of fiber cabling.

The OTDR market is expected to have an upward surge in the coming years. There are various factors which will help in expanding the market such as increased demand for high-speed networks and triple play solutions. Due to people shifting to these solutions, new cabling setup needs to be done which have to be verified post installation using OTDR. This will increase the use of Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (Hand-held). Also, demand for long haul network and requirement of certification for all the fiber optic cables will also lead to higher demand of OTDR services. One more factor which drives the OTDR market is the existence of dark fiber which also needs to be tested during installation which will help them in leasing it out to other carriers.

There can be a few challenges for the growth of OTDR market due to presence of a large installed base of fiber and slower adoption of new technologies by telecommunication and cable TV industry.

Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer Market: Segmentation

Segmentation On The Basis Of Design:

Full-feature OTDR: These are the traditional OTDR’s which are heavier and larger in size. They are usually used in laboratories and in the field where complex measurements need to be carried out.

Hand-held OTDR: These are lighter and smaller in size as compared to traditional OTDR’s and run on battery. They also have less number of featured as compared to traditional OTDR’s, but they can be used in conjunction with PC based software to carry out complex data analysis.

Fiber Break Locator: These are low cost instruments which are specifically used to determine the location of a catastrophic fiber event.